Net Worth & Money News: December 2014
December 16, 2014
Change from November: .63% increase
Change from January: 370% increase
On Money
I’m working away at Swagbucks to earn Amazon money for household, Little Bean, and dog things we need. Feel free to join using my referral link if you like!
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Our increases in the net worth from the beginning of the year look astronomical but honestly, that has more to do with me having trouble getting all the accounts in order over the first quarter. It’s not ALL actual growth but I didn’t relish going back and figuring out what it REALLY was in January now that I have all the accounts sorted.
Maybe I’ll just zero out the start-of-year counter again for 2015 and call it a day.
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End of the year money moves
2014 is running out the clock – what else has to be done?
Last charitable donations
Considering: pay the second half of the property tax a couple months early?
Make a usual big lump payment to the mortgage.
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Little Bean’s “Savings”
This is actually planned-spending, rather than savings, right now.
I’ve been diverting a chunk of money out of our disposable income (from my pay) into a separate account dedicated to LB’s expenses. PiC was a bit late to setting up his corresponding transfers so we didn’t start seeing his contributions in December.
I determined the amount based on this extremely unscientific method: the worse case scenario annual cost of daycare in the Bay Area and an additional $5000 for healthcare and other unexpected expenses.
Well-baby costs are covered by our current health plan but that’s just exams and vaccines. We should have some cash on hand to cover anything else that comes up.
We’ll be exploring various childcare options and of course we are aiming not to be spending at the top tier, but I like to be prepared. Of course.
Ultimately, the point of this exercise is that I want us to see and feel how our disposable income drops with this new “cost center” (heh) so that we adjust our spending patterns accordingly. There was a time that I tracked every single penny and it had to come out of its exact category, but over time, I’ve compromised to being more easygoing about it because it just doesn’t work with PiC’s spending / tracking patterns. So as long as we’re only spending the money that we’ve set aside for spending, and never touch the savings, then there’s no reason I have to be as strict about which categories are high or low, really. (Other than my neuroticism which is a totally valid reason.)
What’s left over at the end of 2015 can be put into a real savings vehicle for LB later – a Coverdell of some sort, I figure – as we should be used to sharing our income with a third party (LB) by then. No, wait, fourth party (Seamus)… wait, fifth party (Dad)… sigh. Sixth party (sibling).
Annnnyway. If you’re saving for a dependent, what’re you using?
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Our Side Money Tracker Update
November was a rousing success, thanks to PiC’s diligence. Some October transactions were rolled into the total since I didn’t start tracking til Nov, but here’s to another good month of unloading stuff!
Craigslist Sales: $1050
[table caption=”Craigslist sales: October&November 2014″ width=”500″ colwidth=”20|150|50|50″ colalign=”left|left|center|right”]
no,Item Description,Sale Price, Total
1,Keyboard,$30,$30
2,Men’s Shoes,$30,$60
3,Men’s Shoes,$25, $85
4,Coffee Table,$180,$265
5,Sofa,$470,$735
6,Cabinet,$65,$800
7, Small bike accessories,$20,$820
8, Roof rack,$80,$900
9,Women’s Shoes,$20,$920
10, Power supply,$30,$950
11, Table, $20, $970
12, Printer,$20,$990
13, Car parts,$40,$1030
13, Shorts,$10,$1040
14, Chair,$10,$1050
[/table]
Other Income: $53.75
[table caption=”Cash sales: November” width=”500″ colwidth=”20|150|50|50″ colalign=”left|left|center|right”]
no,Item Description,Sale Price, Total
1,Used Books (Powell’s),$3.75,$3.75
[/table]
[table caption=”Buying Power: November” width=”500″ colwidth=”20|150|50|50″ colalign=”left|left|center|right”]
no,Item Description,Sale Price, Total
1,Swagbucks Amazon GC, $5,$5
2,Swagbucks Amazon GC, $5,$10
3,Swagbucks Amazon GC, $5,$15
4,Swagbucks Amazon GC, $5,$20
5,Swagbucks Amazon GC, $5,$25
6,Swagbucks Amazon GC, $5,$30
7,Swagbucks Amazon GC, $5,$35
8,Swagbucks Amazon GC, $5,$40
9,Swagbucks Amazon GC, $5,$45
10,Swagbucks Amazon GC, $5,$50
[/table]
On Life
Of late, I find myself contemplating what I want to do next. Partly this is slight boredom but there’s a huge part that’s definitely fueled by the company making things unexpectedly difficult and reneging on agreements as a direct result of my pregnancy. I’m all about being loyal as long as I’m being treated right but that was an unacceptable action on the part of the company, so it’s time to consider choices.
Never having been entrepreneurial, and in fact at times being vehemently anti-entrepreneurism having had to pay off the debts stemming from my parents’ ventures, it’s odd that I’m now contemplating that realm.
Nothing concrete, just a feeling that my skills and my time would be better put to use elsewhere, on else-things.
Nice job with selling Craigslist items! Is swagbucks worth the time? I’ve dabbled in it but never stuck with it because it felt too time consuming.
Tonya@Budget and the Beach recently posted…Learning a Musical Instrument: A Good Investment?
Thanks! I’m really proud of PiC on the Craigslist front 🙂
I can squeeze Swagbucks in between things since I have a LOT of screen time so it’s not terribly time consuming but I know that once LB gets here, I won’t be able to do very much.
Definitely interested to see what’s next for you in career/biz. That sucks that the company has not proven itself loyal and considerate of you as a powerful resource (human capital!). I had an interesting chat with my boss last week about me having a larger risk/reward performance-based bonus. It’s now my turn to follow through and make sure it gets implemented. I think the great thing about a good professional career is that your skills really do transfer to a lot of other fields.
Sally recently posted…Ikea Couch, Redux
Yeah, in general they’ve been alright and I have to take into consideration the fact I have certain perks here that would be very difficult to duplicate elsewhere, but I have to start planning now for anything to happen after LB is born.
Go get that new bonus!
Wow, way to go with the extra income, that’s a lot of Craigslist sales! Swagbucks is great but I get so lazy and forget to use it. I haven’t used it for months so no gift cards for me lately.
Fig @ Figuring Money Out recently posted…Frugal Entertainment Ideas To Spend Less To Entertain Yourself
PiC’s doing great at this. I think it’ll slow down in January as I assume he’s going to run out of things to sell 🙂
I do actively remind myself to use Swagbucks now since I assume that I’m just not going to have any time later.
daycare is definitely something I am NOT looking forward to. We aren’t even pregnant yet, but it’s something I think about from time to time just becausew it is such a huge cost but you also want to make sure your child is being care for well.
Newlyweds on a Budget recently posted…How Much It Cost to Buy Our First Home in Southern California
Igh yes, I spent some hours researching and then gave up in disgust but that really wasn’t smart, we’re going to have to compete for places if we can’t find in-home help! I am kinda that paranoid person who doesn’t trust caregivers I can’t keep an eye on right now. I’ll have to learn to let go 😛
Costs in LA are comparable to here, too, so I know what you’re facing :/
“I’ve been diverting a chunk of money out of our disposable income (from my pay) into a separate account dedicated to LB’s expenses.”
That is so admirably smart! What a wise idea.
After my son went off to college and I realized his father, the corporate lawyer who would never let the Little Wife put her sticky little fingers on anything to do with family finances, had not set aside ONE CENT to send him to school, I realized that if I had secretly taken $10 in cash back every time I paid a grocery bill and stashed it in an ordinary bank savings account, a) dear X-DH would never have noticed, and b) over 18 years I could have saved enough to put him through one year of the staggeringly expensive private liberal-arts college where he went or four years at the University of Arizona, a more or less acceptable in-state public school. Very much more than acceptable had he chosen to major in astrophysics or cultural anthropology…
It amazes me, considering the sheer drive you show when you describe your life, that you think of yourself as non-entrepreneurial. Weirdly, I would’ve thought exactly the opposite.
Well, but on the other hand, part of entrepreneurship is a certain openness to risking all. So…maybe not.
Funny about Money recently posted…First-World Problems…
I’m EXTRA good at getting things done. Less so in building things from scratch and risk, so that’s my quickie assessment of why I’ve never thought of myself as entrepreneurial.
It’ll be good to know that we can do just as well cashflowing expenses when we’re down another X% of cash that’ll be intended for LB, whether it’s actual savings or actual expenses.
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